Rayner says UK unlikely to meet 1.5 million homes target

Burnham government shifts housing priority toward council house building

UK Communities Secretary Angela Rayner acknowledged Sunday that the government is unlikely to meet its target of building 1.5 million homes before the next election, telling the BBC there was only a “slim chance” enough houses would be completed in the timeframe.

The pledge, which formed a centrepiece of Labour’s general election manifesto, was always a “stretch target,” Rayner said, but she added it was not being abandoned. “It’s a slim chance, but I’m definitely not giving it up. I think it’s really important that we keep a target that it was always a stretch target,” she told BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

Rayner attributed the slowdown in housebuilding to inflation tied to the US war with Iran and to elevated construction costs. Housebuilders have cut back the number of developments in response, despite Labour’s planning reforms intended to increase housing supply.

Sunday’s interview marked the first time a Labour minister publicly acknowledged the target could be missed. Rayner returned to the communities secretary role after Andy Burnham became prime minister.

Rayner said Burnham’s main housing priority has shifted toward building council houses. “The prime minister wants us to make sure we’re building council houses. He’s made that absolutely, fundamentally clear,” she said. The government has announced £10bn for a 10-year social and affordable homes programme and reported a 15% rise in home starts over the past year.

“But the headwinds that are coming our way internationally and through those construction costs are having a negative effect on that target,” Rayner said.

The £10bn programme will fund 70,000 homes outside London, about 60% of which will be social rented housing. The remainder will cover other types of subsidised accommodation, including shared ownership schemes and sheltered housing. London will receive an additional £6bn, to be allocated at a later date.

Burnham recently backtracked on a proposal to spend the affordable homes programme funds entirely on social housing. Instead, the £10bn will support a mix of subsidised housing types in England, in line with the policy pursued by the previous Starmer government.

Ministers are also looking at ways to relax regulations for private-sector builders, including instructing councils to give a “default yes” approach to housing developments within a reasonable walking distance of well-connected train and tram stations.